Okay This Is The End All For Spring Install

[zfactor]

well start with the back:
what you will need=a 1/2" racthet and a 19 and 18 mm socket with a 1/2" extension.
first jack the car up and please place a jackstand under the seam next to the jack and let the car rest on the stand not just the jack

after the wheel is removed you will see the shock in the well, you only need to take out the top bolt of the shock you do not need to pull the whole thing out. once this is done you can now push down on the rotor/ caliper assembly to lower the arm and the spring will basicaly come right out. remove the plastic upper and lower from the stock spring and replace them into the new spring. do not cut the rear bumpstops for the b+g's, if you have the sprints they need to be trimmed about a half inch for full travel. thats it now once youve easily placed the new spring in the perch which will go in super easy this time cause its actually smaller than the stock one, put the shock back in place and replace the bolt you took out make sure to tighten it down good. replace the wheel.... do the other side. rears are done. super easy

the front bring a bit more work... now i am assuming you will be using a jack and stands since most here will not have a lift to use so i am going to tell it accordingly.

what you will need= same as rear a 1/2" ratchet or impact gun, 21, 19 and 18mm sockets 1/2" extension, a simple hammer, the e-8 socket, spring compressors, razor knife, wd-40 or similar.

start by removeing the wheel easy right?.. once the wheel is removed look at what you have to work on. first thing is on the rear sides of the strut is a wire plug with 2 wires in it. unplug that then youl see a bracket attached to the strut pull the rubber grommets holding that wire to it off. put it aside where it wolnt get damaged. next loosen the nut at the top of the strut under the hood this will be a single 18mm dont take it all the way off yet just loosen it for now.

then loosen the nut holding the tension rod to the strut and remove it. you will see the bolt from the tension rod angling down wards this is fine for now just let it be. we will deal with that in a minute

then the 2 nuts on the side of the strut loosen those till they are alost all the way out but do not remove them. you will need to grab the hammer i spoke of and gently tap on the nuts not the bolts we dont want to damage the threads. they will start to come out keep tapping till they get all they way out and you feel you can remove then easily. now remove the nuts. take the bracket that will be attached to these bolt and set it aside.

now you can remove fully the nut at the top of the strut. now slowly, because remember we still have the tension rods bolt through the strut bracket, lower the strut assembly as you do start to turn it slowly toward the front of the car you will be able to turn it so the tension rod bolt can be easily slid out.

now you have a strut assembly in your hands.

first this is where you will need the e-8 socket. looking at the top you will the the "hat" and it will have 4 e-8 bolts around the sides of it. when putting the hat back on with the e-8 bolt you will need to alighn it right. normally you will see either grenn or white paint dots marking it how it goes back together if you do not see these please take a marking pen or a few dabs of paint and maek them you'll be happy later you did trust me. remove these. the hat will come off put it aside. now you will see the main nut holding the strut perch to the strut/compressing the spring. take your spring compressors and put one on each side of the spring. these usually take a 18mm socket. compress each side slowly a little at a time. do not do one side all the way down then the other. trust me. get the spring good and compressed. use your impact wrench and using the 21 mm socket take off the nut. i mentioned wd-40 or similar because so far most of the ones i have done had the top of the threads pretty rusted up and you may need to spray a little on there for the nut to come off.. now remove the perch. be carfeful now you will see a "shim" it goes one way this will usually fall of when removeing the perch dont loose it. when putting it back together the larger side goes up youll see what i mean when you see it.

slide off the plastic cover over the strut rod inside it you will find the bumpstop. depending on the spring is how these should be cut.
for sprint and any spring lower then 1.6" cut these in half dicarding the bottom half not the top. for b+g or H&R cut only abot 3/4" off of the bottom this will allow for full travel so you dont hit the bumpstops.

take the spring compressors off the stock spring and now place them on the new spring and compress it off of the strut. place the new spring in the bottom perch make sure to alighn it right with the noth in the perch again once you see it youll see what i mean.

place the top perch back on making sure to have put the metal spacer back in place before hand. put it back together the reverse of how you took it apart.

when putting the strut back in the car the only difficult part is the tension rod bolt. its a little difficult but you can put it through the hole in the strut and start the nut on it before hand but putting the strut back in place is a bit of a challenge. what i recc is leave this off for now. put the strut back in the car slide the bolt through the hole in the strut tower loosly tighten the nut just to hold it there. alighn the bottom two, you may have to play with it for a min to get these lined up right. put these 2 bolt back in, you may have to tap them a bit GENTLY with the hammer to push them through enough put the braket for the brake wire back on and tighten up these nuts really good. i use an impact gun on them. DO NOT FORGET TO PLUG THE BRAKE WIRE BACK IN.

now the reason i said to leave the tension rod unbolted is this. you should have your car on the jackstands right?? if not your an idiot. take the jack not being used at the moment and place it under your rotor. gently and slowly jack up the rotor look at the hole where the bolt needs to go as you raise the rotor up it will start to line up and you will be able to slide it right threw the hole and put the nut on now please tghten it now if you let it back down it will go on an angle again and you will not get a socket on it. tighten and check all your nuts and bolts. place the wheel back on and you are done, now do the other side. lower your car and enjoy.

i think i covered everything any questions put them here and we will answer them for you. spooner or goofy should make this a sticky for everyone

[Sp00ner]

Is it possible to get some torque specs for this area? I'm about to do it this week, and would love to have the proper numbers. Wop? Anyone else with the manuals?

[Project_Redline]

By spring compressor, are you talking about those cheasy cheap ones you can buy off eBay for like $20? Also, is it possible to get the top nut on the strut off without and impact gun?

[zfactor]

you can use the manual screw type they work just fine.. take longer but work fine.. i would highly recc a hydraulic or air powered one though. but the normal autozone type are fine.. just make sure to screw each side down a little at a time.. meaning go like 1/2" on the one side then 1/2" on the other side etc.. if you crank one down you may never get your socket off that side since it will force it to turn into the spring...

and no you will not get the top nut off without some kind of gun either a electric or air powered one... even with those it still took some force the first time.

spooner: do you have a torque wrench?? wjay i would suggest if you want them to be exact is use it to take torque readings before loosening anything. this will tell you if you dont have oem specs what they were before hand.

[WopOnTour]

Originally Posted by Sp00ner

Is it possible to get some torque specs for this area? I'm about to do it this week, and would love to have the proper numbers. Wop? Anyone else with the manuals?

Ball Joint to Control Arm Nut and Bolts 68 N·m 50 lb ft

Ball Joint to Steering Knuckle Nut
First Pass- 50 N·m (37 lb ft)
Reverse Nut- 3/4 turn
Second Pass-50 N·m + 30° (37 lb ft + 30°)

Control Arm to Front Frame Bolts- 66 N·m (49 lb ft)

Control Arm to Rear Frame Bolts- 100 N·m + 180° ( 74 lb ft + 180°)

Frame to Chassis Bolts- 100 N·m + 180° (74 lb ft + 180°)

Intermediate Shaft Pinch Bolt- 34 N·m (25 lb ft)

Stabilizer Link to Strut Nut- 110 N·m (81 lb ft)

Stabilizer Shaft Clamp Bolt- 50 N·m (37 lb ft)

Stabilizer Shaft Link to Stabilizer Bar Nut- 110 N·m (81 lb ft)

Strut Assembly to Steering Knuckle Nut- 120 N·m (89 lb ft)

Strut Cap Screws- 14 N·m (124 lb in)

Strut Cap to Body Nut- 110 N·m (81 lb ft)

Strut Shaft Nuts- 70 N·m (52 lb ft)

Tie Rod to Knuckle Nut- 60 N·m (44 lb ft)

Transmission Mount Through Bolt- 100 N·m (74 lb ft)

Transmission Mount to Frame Bolt- 50 N·m (37 lb ft)

Wheel Bearing/Hub Assembly Mounting Bolts- 115 N·m (85 lb ft)

Enjoy
WOT

[Sp00ner]

How do I hold the front struts steady, while I break loose the main nut? It's driving me insane!!!!

[WopOnTour]

Originally Posted by Sp00ner

How do I hold the front struts steady, while I break loose the main nut? It's driving me insane!!!!

1/2" impact works the best. Ithas the inertia necc to break the nut loose without spinning the shaft.
GL
WOT

[Sp00ner]

I'm unsticking this as I've made it into a how to, many thanks to Wop and Zfactor for this info...

[silver05rl]

what the hell is an e-8 socket????

[Sp00ner]

Originally Posted by silver05rl

what the hell is an e-8 socket????

It's a 'Torx' bit. Also called a star bit. However, this is a female star socket. The head of the 4 bolts are shaped like stars. E8 is the size of the Torx socket that fits it.